1837 - The Gov of NSW, Sir Richard Bourke, having swanned about BearBrass or Batmania as it was known declared today that the official name for the capital of the Port Phillip Colony shall be Melbourne (brown nosing to the then-PM of England William Lamb Viscount Melbourne) and that other place shall be Williams Town, named after the English King, William IV.
Think I'd prefer to be known as a Batmaniac myself...

1839 - Establishment of Port Lincoln ; The Port Lincoln Herald reported that the Special Survey of 15 000 acres of land adjoining Boston Bay at Port Lincoln, undertaken in February by Messrs Smith and Hawson, had already resulted in nearly 300 people settling in the area.

1847 The Maitland Mercury reported on this day about the BIG melon John Bell Squire managed to grow on his farm at Cockfighter's Creek, Warkworth (NSW) that measured 4 feet around its girth and weighed 66lbs (30 kilos).

1851 - The Anti-Transportation folks in NSW had got themselves into a right state about preventing further convicts from trotting Down Under so today in 1851 The NSW Association for Preventing the Renewal of Transportation emailed good Queen Victoria a petition to show they meant business.

1861 - George Dalrymple, Commissioner of Crown Lands, led an overland party to settle Port Denison (Bowen) which was funded by the Queensland Government that was hoping for more revenue by opening up areas for pastoral endevours. Dalrymple’s party travelled overland, while another bunch of party animals led by Captain Henry Sinclair travelled by boat. They met at Port Denison on this day and proclaimed the town of Bowen.

1862 - Sir Henry Barkley was in a party mood today when he officially opened the railway line from Geelong to Ballarat - so he joined the 500 guests and members of the Victorian Parliament in a grand banquet.

1885 - The Morwell to Boolarra Railway Line (VIC) opened.

1902 - During a debate in the Parliament it was stated that The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 denied the voting rights of ‘Aboriginal natives of Australia … unless so entitled under Section 41 of the Constitution’. Garran advised that ‘half-castes’ were not disqualified from voting ‘but that all people in whom the aboriginal blood preponderates are disqualified’.

1908 - The Port Waratah Branch Railway Line (NSW) was opened.

1916 - The Bairnsdale to Orbost Railway Line (VIC) opened.

1916 - William Williams, a 27 year old Aboriginal man, walked nearly 300 kilometres from his home near the NSW town of Hillston, to Forbes, to enlist on this day.

1967 - Today saw the very first Aussie national nightly current affairs show debut on the ABC with This Day Tonight, hosted by Bill Peach, airing Monday-Friday at 7.30pm.

1968 - Over the ditch today and The Wahine Disaster horrified everyone; the sinking of the Lyttelton-Wellington ferry, Wahine, by storms generated by Cyclone Giselle claimed the lives of 51 people immediately, another dying several weeks later and the 53rd victim succumbing in 1990 to injuries sustained in the tragedy.

1981 - The Gay Philhellenic Society began to advertise meetings and social activities.

1983 - The third Club 80 public meeting was held at the Sydney Gay Centre and formed the Lambda Legal Defence Fund.

1989 - A forum of 150 people at the Teacher’s Federation discussed the future of the SGLMG.

1989 - 12 men chanting anti-gay slogans invaded a meeting of the Gay and Lesbian Immigration Task Force and were chased off by members of the Task Force.

1990 - 80 people met to form AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACTUP). It advocated non-violent direct action to end the AIDS crisis.

1997 - Today was the day the most Australian movie ever made was unleashed, changing the way we think and talk and quote one-liners forever.
“Tell him he's dreamin'” ...
“We're going to Bonnie Doon. ...
“How's the serenity? ...
“Dale dug a hole. ...
“Suffer in your jocks!” ...
“It's not a house. ...
“It's the vibe of it. ...
“This is going straight to the pool room”

2000 - NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Housing, Andrew Refshauge, launched a housing project for people living with HIV/AIDS. The Project was developed by NSW Health, the NSW Department of Housing and the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.

2006 - Mark Vaile, Australia's trade minister, said he did not read a string of diplomatic cables warning that the country's monopoly wheat exporter allegedly was paying multimillion-dollar kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime.

2006 - Members of the Canterbury-Bankstown District Gay and Lesbian Social Group voted for the group to be taken over by another gay group – Rebellion.

2006 - Australian scientists reported the discovery of an "anti-freeze gene" that allows Antarctic grass to survive at minus 30°C, saying it could prevent multi-million-dollar crop losses from frost.

2008 - Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd met China's premier for talks expected to touch on what Rudd has called significant human rights problems in Tibet. Rudd said Chinese paramilitary police will not be allowed to run alongside the Olympic torch in Australia, after their heavy-handed tactics drew criticism in earlier legs of the relay.

2010 - The Deadly Funny National Grand Final was held in Melbourne, with the prize of $2000 in cash and a trophy.

2012 - In Indonesia some 120 asylum seekers, mostly Afghans and some Iranians, demanded that Indonesia provide a vessel to allow them to continue to Australia, refusing to leave a tanker that rescued them at sea.

2015 - All traffic came to a standstill in Melbourne due to the efforts of a peaceful protest of more than 4,000 - 5,000 people organised by Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) who were spotlighting the threatened closures of remote Aboriginal communities. They were infamously dubbed "selfish rabble" by one media outlet.

2015 - It was announced that Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative Bringing Them Home workers Pam Branson and Felicity Johns were looking for information about adoptions in the region.